Quiet Christmas

Just before the flurry of Christmas and just after the flurry of craft shows, I took a little quiet afternoon to knit up a sweater for Francis. My friend Sarah had alerted me to the fact that while the new pants were nice, he needed a sweater like Fifi's to complete the ensemble.

I wanted to make it red and had a nice little ball of merino in my stash but it wasn't quite enough so the sleeves are pretty short. On the other hand, how long do you go with a monkey?

Happy holidays to everyone, and wishing you everything good in the New Year. Thanks for all your visits!

 

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City of Craft - bringing it all back home

Lovely doilies by Beside Herself and a pretty embellished wooden pen knife.

Adorable wee pouch by Coucou Salut.

Pretty bird brooch and printed fox notebook by Genevieve Jodouin. If I can manage to use the notebook, I'm planning to frame the beautiful cover print.

When can I ever resist a bag of fabric scraps? These were offered up by Grace Design.

A little log faux bois keyring, and blackboard necklace by Killside Krafts. I've been using it to keep track of knitting rows! Pictured next to one of Shannon Gerard's popular crocheted cactuses.

Summery vintage floral wallet by Knotted Nest. They even came in charming boxes made from maps. How could I choose just one thing from Kristen's table? Well it wasn't easy, I loved everything!

Two glass cups from my talented neighbour, Rachel Robichaud. The jadeite green one caught my eye first, but I also love yellow so that one came home with me too.

And I even got treats just for being a vendor, a ribbon made by Roisin, and one of the pencils from Kalpna's pencil project.

I love City of Craft. Thank you to Becky and everyone who helped out and everyone who visited. City of Craft loves you!

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City of Craft - almost ready!

Just one last post before City of Craft this weekend! This year I have new Christmas cards, a vintage-inspired watercolour of a fairy with a young robin. It's a bit sweet & sentimental but sometimes when I sit down to draw that's just what comes out. These come in sets of four with envelopes, and the cards are blank inside so you can write anything you like.

 I also just finished some more new wool embroidered brooches, this time in blue/green.

To make these I started with a knitted swatch, like a small scarf. Then I wash that and dry it a few times so it's a bit felted. Then I do some extra soapy felting by hand to help it really shrink down and get nice and thick.

This time I dyed the swatch with yellow first, then added some blue after that. Doing it this way instead of just dyeing it green in the first place makes a nice rich blend of blue and green that I really like. Then I dry the swatch and cut it into little circles. Each circle is hand-embroidered using crewel wool. Then lastly I sew a little brooch latch on the back. Done!

I also have some new sewn pincushion/ornaments as well, lots of them made with pieces of my favourite barkcloth fabrics. There are two made with grey and orange wool plaid and crocheted lace.

And a few with a combination of mustard yellow linen, a floral print and vintage lace.

And lastly a few with a blue Japanese cotton print with little trees and deer combined with blue striped fabric and gingham on the back.

If you're not a sewer, they have loops so you can hang them on a tree and they make a nice little stocking stuffer.

And lastly I have these little friendship medals. The wood shapes were made by Beside Herself and bought by me at a Workroom trunk show. I decided to cross-stitch little bars of colours on each one then sew a brooch pin on the back. Beside Herself is the collaboration of Toronto based artists Carolyn Self and Alda Escareño - this talented duo will be at City of Craft as well, tempting you with everything on their table!

Ok, back to work for me... don't forget to visit the City of Craft blog to see samples of some of the swag on offer for the first 100 people to the show on BOTH days, and some of the gorgeous items you could win in the raffles that take place throughout the show.

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Getting ready for City of Craft

I've been very busy getting ready for City of Craft! Here's a sneak peek..

I sold my last crocheted pincushion at Crafternoon Tea, so I decided to make some new ones. These are crocheted from my own handspun wool yarn combined with vintage feedsack floral fabric tops and vintage buttons with wool flowers or leaves underneath. They come with their coordinating pins! They're all stuffed with 100% wool fleece.

I've also embroidered lots of new brooches. These are made from thick white felted wool circles embroidered with crewel wool with a brooch clasp sewn on the back. I love making these! I generally just make up each picture as I go along.

And lastly I have some new necklaces. These are based on a new idea I had last year but I didn't have time to make more than one. I've added wool felt flowers to the usual beads and silver charms I use. I love the textile element and I've used lots of my favourite aqua and mustard. I'm just not tired of this colour combination! p.s. I only bought one pony charm (why? why?) so there is just the one pony necklace.

I hope I've tempted you to visit my table at City of Craft! I'm going to be inside the theatre in front of the stage steps close to my spot last year. If I have time this week, I'll show you another sneak peek. In the meantime, here's all the info:

City of Craft 2010

December 18 & 19, 2010
Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm
Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm
$2 Admission

Toronto's annual indie craft fair is back and better than ever. 50 vendors! A neighbourhood full of related art and installations! Free workshops and demos! Surprises!

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Decor shopping

Le Creuset 12-Ounce Petite Oval Casserole in Dijon

I've posted about them before, but I find that CSN Stores has been a good place to find decor items for the home with lots of selection.  I've had a few friends mention that they had a hard time finding things like rugs and extra tall bar stools. Apparently bar stools can be quite expensive.

Le Creuset 1.5-Quart Round Casserole with Lid in Kiwi

I find it much easier to just search online than to visit a bunch of stores especially if they're far away. But sometimes you find the perfect thing, then find out the store doesn't ship to Canada. Well I've had a rug delivered from CSN and it was very easy, so I can recommend them.

Le Creuset 3.5-Quart Round French Oven in Flame

They also have smaller items of course, such as Le Creuset cookware, a personal favourite, so that's what I'm planning on ordering next myself. Is it just me or is a colourful casserole dish just the thing to cheer up your kitchen for the holidays?

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